Match
by celilou5
Summary: Annabeth Chase was sure that her match would be Luke. She loves him and he loves her. But her match isn't Luke. Dystopian AU
1. We Sit Side by Side

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Percy Jackson series**

 **Chapter One: We Sit By Side**

Warm rays of sun heated Annabeth's face causing sweat to dampen her forehead. The spring air was filled with the smell of flowers and fresh grass. The air was damp, humid, and as Annabeth walked along her skin became moist and her hair curled slightly, lifting up at the ends.

Annabeth hummed softly to the song that played on her ipod: Summer Girl. The song coaxed a small smile onto her lips. It was an original song, written for her last summer by Luke.

Annabeth had surreptitiously recorded it and loaded it onto her ipod. Luke's singing voice was low and slightly rough. It was far from perfect, but Annabeth loved it. During her morning walk in the park -something she did during spring every year- she put the song on repeat.

Annabeth crossed a wide empty lawn and stepped over a small fence, cutting onto one of her favorite paths. She liked it because it was quiet and never used by anyone but her and Luke. The city had taken the path off the official map of the park after deeming it too far from the city square. Annabeth could be arrested if she was ever found here. Olympia did not like when anyone strayed far from the city center.

The bushes on the side of the path were overgrown, spilling onto the path and occasionally brushing against Annabeth.

Hands clapped over her eyes and Annabeth heard a familiar voice said, "Guess who?"

Annabeth laughed and slapped Luke's hand away. Luke pulled her into a hug and then quickly released her. They started to walk, down the sloping path and into a section that reminded Annabeth of something she had read about in books: a forest. There were no real forests in Olympia. This part of the path was the closest thing. The trees had continued to grow here, long after the path had been taken out of service, and they arched above the path creating a sort of tunnel.

There were leaves and small red flowers that fell apart at a touch and flew off into the sky. Whenever Annabeth's coat brushed up against the flowers, small red flecks become stuck to her. Long thin leaves fell from the trees above and tangled with Annabeth's hair before Luke brushed them off.

They held hands as they walked in silence.

Then Luke spoke. "The Matching is tomorrow."

Annabeth nodded. "Yes."

The Matching was the system in Olympia for marriage. Whenever an Olympian citizen turned seventeen, they were matched to the person Olympia deemed most suitable for them.

Annabeth was sure that Luke would be her match. The thinking behind The Matching was simple: if you were with a person who was exactly right for you, you would would never be in conflict with them -Olympia hoped to prevent a conflict like the one that had rocked the world fifty years ago.

And in all their years of friendship, Annabeth and Luke had had only the smallest arguments about the silliest things. They had never really fought. Surely Olympia would see that and match them.

Luke stopped for a moment and grabbed a small yellow flower from a bush on the path. He tucked it behind Annabeth's ear and secured it with several strands of her blonde hair. "An early present from your match." Luke said, making Annabeth smile.

She was relieved that he was also sure of the probability of their match.

Annabeth returned home from her walk and tugged the small flower out from behind her ear. She filled a small cup with water and placed the flower in it.

She was smiling all day, even as she worried over a blueprint for a building that she hoped to present successfully at the Architectural Conference in several weeks.

Until an Olympian citizen turned twenty, they could experiment with a number of different professions. But Annabeth had found what she wanted to do when she was fifteen. She had discovered her passion for Architecture in a drawing class. The art teacher had told her to find an item and draw it. Annabeth has focused on a tall building, just outside the art room window. The building was tall, massive, and at the top the building was made completely of glass and spiraled up into the sky in a corkscrew design. Annabeth had drawn it with quick strokes. For weeks after she imagined the inside; she'd carefully sketched her imagining of each floor, just for fun. The drawing had begun to turn the gears of her mind at a speed they had never turned before. Annabeth relished the work.

There was only one problem with her workplace, one that she could easily forget when she was enclosed within her small office: she was the only women there.

There were no rules in Olympia that said that certain genders took certain jobs, but each gender had claimed jobs for itself, and Architecture had been claimed by the men. Annabeth's work hadn't really been taken seriously. She got the feeling that the other employees were hoping that she would leave. Her supervisor gave her extremely challenging projects and put her on the phone with difficult clients. What her supervisor didn't know was that Annabeth loved breaking down the obstacles placed in front of her. Challenges kept her mind sharp. What would have made her throw up her hands and leave would have been the assignment of easy jobs and calls with clients who never gave her a hard time. Annabeth couldn't stand to be bored.

As Annabeth walked home from her workplace the sounds of the city began to die down. Everyone was tired on their way home. Annabeth's phone buzzed and she pulled it from her pocket. It was Piper, her best friend. Piper was asking Annabeth to come over. Annabeth quickly changed her path directing herself northward, towards the complex where Piper lived.

Olympia didn't choose friends for it's citizens, but friendships needed to be approved by an official -again, to avoid conflicts. Piper had taken a while to be approved, and Annabeth hadn't seen her for months. But then she had been approved and Annabeth and Piper had been inseparable since.

Annabeth checked her watch before ringing the bell for Piper's apartment. She had an hour with Piper before she needed to leave to make Olympia's curfew.

When Piper opened the door, she was crying. "Jason and I had a fight," She choked out.

Annabeth was shocked. Then she realized what that meant. If they had had a fight, their chances of being matched had gone from probable, to non-existent.

"Gods Pipes, I'm so, so sorry," Annabeth said, sitting down on Piper's wide couch and giving her friend a hug.

"Jason just exploded this afternoon," Piper sobbed out. "He said that our relationship wasn't normal and it felt like I was acting like we were the perfect couple so we could be paired together. I mean, I kind of was, but I thought that was what we both wanted, to be paired together, even if it made things a little weird now, and a little fake seeming. But now-" Piper cut herself off with a fresh onslaught of tears, and Annabeth watched helplessly, feeling guilty that she was thinking about how happy she and Luke would be.

 **A/n: sorry for any mistakes that I missed !**

 **Song: We Are Gonna Be Friends- The White Stripes**


	2. When Life Goes Wrong

_Chapter One: When Life Goes Wrong_

Annabeth woke to the soft patter of rain on her window sill. She rubbed sleep from her eyes.

Work was suspended that day, and no one was allowed out of doors until noon when The Matching began.

Annabeth felt no anxiety about the outcome of the ceremony. She wished she could see Luke beforehand, but of course, she would see him walking towards her after their names were called and she would see him afterwards in their new city issued apartment.

Annabeth spent a longer time than usual in the shower, washing her hair, and humming to herself. After she climbed out she had a quick breakfast of oatmeal and dried fruit. In books she had read, people had mentioned eating fresh fruit, but Annabeth had never tried any. It wasn't available at reasonable prices.

Annabeth worked on her blueprint for several hours - she was still not satisfied with the layout of the ground floor. She tweaked the placement of several walls and moved the entire kitchen to a different location, feeling that it should be closer to the living and dining rooms.

At eleven Annabeth began to ready herself for the ceremony. There were two colors that you could wear to the ceremony: white and gray (the colors of Olympia). Annabeth had selected a gray fit-and-flare dress. She had found that the color made her eyes stand out. She applied the minimal makeup she had been given with the dress, and pulled her hair back in a simple braided twist. She surveyed herself in the mirror, suddenly anxious to look her best for Luke, though she knew he wouldn't care as long as she was his match. Which she would be.

The ceremony took place in the middle of the city square. Girls stood on the right side of a large archway, and boys stood on the left. In the middle was a raised slab of concrete that was several inches higher than the surrounding pavement. When a match was called, the two who had been matched went to stand on the slab, to say their vows. The ceremony was simple but significant in the lives of the participants.

As Annabeth stood in line she worried the hem of her dress. She'd spotted Piper, her dress wrinkled and her face tearstained, but hadn't been able to speak with her.

An Olympian official began to speak from a projection that materialized in the air right above the archway.

"Good Afternoon." The official said.

Annabeth met Luke's eyes from across square. She gave him a wide smile and he returned it. See you soon, Annabeth mouthed. Luke might not have understood, but he still smiled.

The official began to call out the names of girls in alphabetical order according to last names. Annabeth was relaxed when she heard her her name called. She stepped forward, ready to hold hands with Luke and say their vows, make their promises to Olympia. Then the official announced the name of her match, and it wasn't Luke. Annabeth's vision blurred. Blood roared in her ears.

 _Percy Jackson_ , the official had called.

Percy Jackson, not Luke Castellan.

Annabeth walked up to the slab. She felt like she was in a dream. The colors, the sounds, were so odd, so unexpected that they could only be the product of a sleeping mind. A boy with dark hair and startlingly green eyes walked up and stood next to her. Annabeth remembered that they needed to hold hands. The thought repulsed her. Percy Jackson's hand was not the hand she was supposed to hold. Percy Jackson was not the person she was supposed to say her vows with.

Annabeth choked out her responses, her throat clogged, and her eyes burning with held back tears. Her mind blared one thought: this wasn't supposed to happen.

She finished her vows and walked over to the small area where the rest of the matched waited.

When Luke joined the group of matched couples, clutching the hand of a girl with bright red hair, Annabeth felt that her heart was cracking open.

The government issued apartment was drab. The walls were solid glass and Annabeth had a view of the city, but the inside of the apartment was unadorned. There were a few pieces of white furniture scattered around the main room, and several stools were lined up at a high counter in the kitchen, there was a bed in one room but nothing else. Annabeth's stomach had turned when she realized that she was expected to share a bed with Percy.

Now dinner had come and gone, and it was almost time to go to bed. Annabeth had changed into a light blue nightgown. She felt embarrassed in it in front of Percy. It had been intended for Luke.

She felt her stomach turn again as she realized that Luke would soon be sharing a bed with the red head he'd been matched with.

As she got ready for bed, brushing her teeth and washing her face, she heard the bed shifting and knew Percy had climbed into it. Sure enough, when she stepped out of the bathroom, he was in bed. She flushed when she saw his eyes flick over her nightgown. Then she felt anger. He was never supposed to see her in it. He wasn't supposed to be her match.

Annabeth climbed into the bed. She found it too small. She wanted more space between Percy and herself. Her leg brushed against Percy's and she quickly pulled it away.

Percy cleared his throat. "Um, Goodnight."

"Goodnight," Annabeth mummered.

She felt something breaking down inside of her and hot tears wet her cheeks.

And once she began to cry, she couldn't stop. Tears dripped down her nose and cheeks and she felt Percy's eyes on her. "Sorry, I just-" she stopped. She couldn't tell him.

But he guessed anyway. Shifted uncomfortably, he asked,"You thought you'd be matched with someone else?"

Annabeth nodded and turned her head away slightly.

She nestled deeper into the covers and her pillow dried her tears. But she continued to cry, big hiccuping sobs that made her body shake. She felt Percy shift beside her and then everything fell silent.

In the morning Annabeth slipped out of the house in search of Luke's address. He was in the same highrise and she had overheard his address while apartments were assigned. She had to see him, even though she was not allowed to visit him without Percy. She found his apartment quickly and rang the bell. Then she remembered that Luke also had a match and she was most likely home. She was about to turn away when Luke opened the door.

"Annabeth!" He said, a smile lighting up his face.

Annabeth launched herself into his arms after Luke had shut the door. She looked around for any sign on Luke's match. "Rachel, the girl I was matched with, that's her name, is out. She went to the yoga studios on Eighth Street. She's really serious about yoga -actually she wants to teach it. She'll be gone for a while."

Luke said.

Annabeth curled up next to him on the couch, tucking her feet underneath her. She leaned against Luke's shoulder. "I don't understand why we weren't matched." She whispered.

"I don't either." Luke frowned.

"But we can see each other while Rachel does her yoga. No one will ever know." Annabeth said.

Luke exhaled and leaned his head back. "I'm not sure Annabeth. We have partner's now, and if we were caught…"

"But we won't be caught."

Luke's eyebrows pulled together. "Annabeth, we could be. You know that."

Annabeth looked him straight in the eye, holding his gaze for a long moment. "Answer this question: do we love each other?"

Luke nodded and a smile tugged at his lips. "We do."

"Then it's settled."

Annabeth wrapped her arms around Luke and for a moment everything felt like it was going to be okay again.


End file.
